Agave plus Mario's plus Tesla equals love

Isaiah Zschomler/2010Tesla and me.Well, maybe not love exactly, but certainly an intense fascination for the 100% electric Tesla Roadster.

Okay, sappy, but read on for the whole story.

It started in the late '70s/early '80s when my older brother bought a 1969 Austin-Healy Sprite. (For the uninformed, it's an early British sports car.) A small, two-seater convertible.

Brave and generous as he was, I, armed with a new driver's license, was actually allowed to get behind the wheel now and again. (He must have liked living dangerously.)

Jump ahead ten years to the late '80s/early '90s when another brother bought a Mazda Miata whose price was "enough for a third of a house" according to my frugal mother.

Are you getting the picture? Since then the Miata has been my dream car.

Oh, there have been a few others that distracted me along the way, like that brief fling with the bright yellow Toyota Spyder. The first time I laid eyes on a Spyder I stood mesmerized in the parking lot of the grocery store while my family continued on without me. After walking around the car two or three times drooling, I reluctantly returned to reality and trudged to our practical, affordable mini-van.

Jump ahead another twenty years to the Portland Auto Show where I discovered the Lotus -- my favorite car at the show. I also had a brief encounter with the Tesla in that I noticed it on my way out the door, took some not so great pictures and went on my way.

Okay, to me the connection was a little fuzzy until I learned that Mario's carries Agave products. And Agave designed the Tesla "uniform." So, the connection comes full circle.

So, following the Twitter link to a Facebook event page and ultimately to Agave's main FB page, I became a fan and the rest is history.

Agave personally invited me to the event which I had already considered attending and vetoed because of time constraints that day. With a little encouragement, I changed my mind, decided to check it out and signed up to test drive a Tesla as long as I was there.

I did some research on the Tesla, again on Agave (I have previously written about Agave a couple of times and taken a tour of their design studio in Ridgefield) and also on Mario's. A somewhat intimidating combination in my humble eyes. But the entire experience was positive and exhilarating.

My contact from Agave's California office was helpful and quick to respond to every question I had and set me up with my test-drive appointment.

The Mario's employee was helpful and considerate as well, even after I pointed out to him that I was more of a Walmart type of person. He didn't let that phase him and still treated me with respect.

And my official Tesla test-drive contact (pilot?) gave me the ride of my life.

Let me explain.

Although an exciting prospect, I was extremely apprehensive getting behind the wheel of a car that would take the rest of my lifetime to pay off in the event of a catastrophe. It's been awhile since I test drove any kind of vehicle, so I wasn't really sure how it would pan out. Even so, when he slid behind the wheel and motioned for me to get in the passenger seat, I was somewhat disappointed. He wanted to "show me a couple of things before it was my turn to drive."

Traffic in downtown Portland was bumper to bumper, so part of me was relieved. He drove a few blocks away from the main traffic stream before asking, "Want to see what it can do?"

"Sure," I said, always ready for an adventure.

Before I knew what hit me, he floored the gas pedal.

A lot of people talk about zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds, but probably most don't experience it. (Most likely I didn't either, but it was enough to get a taste.) My immediate response was to scream, then laugh, then say the first thing that popped into my head, " that's better than any ride at Disneyland," which is my only real reference point.

At the next stoplight, a souped up burgundy GTO pulled up next to us. Probably with dual or quad pipes from the sound.

Are you kidding me? It was fate.

You can only imagine what conversation took place then. Yeah...like I said, the ride of my life.

Then it was my turn. "Do I get to do what you did?"

"Sure."

He might have been sure, but I wasn't. I am normally a pretty conservative driver with a clean driving record, but hey, here was my chance. I wanted to see for myself how it responded. Why rely on someone else's word if you don't have to? It was truly amazing. The only downside was we didn't have time to take it on the open road. (I did ask.)

I was sold.

I obviously like sports car...like convertibles, and there are a lot out there to choose from. But the difference with the Tesla is that it is all electric. That means no exhaust, no fill-ups at the gas station, and no noisy muffler's. The Tesla purrs like a kitten on acceleration and is silent when it idles. Another big plus.

The show-car at the event was owned by a local man and I had a chance to talk with him extensively. He'd had his Tesla six months. For him, charging the battery only cost him around $4. Which is like getting about 250 miles on one gallon of gas. Who wouldn't want that? That's how far I get on an entire tank of gas in my current car. (Which seemed gutless after driving the Tesla, BTW.)

So, if I'd been wearing Agave designer jeans and a pair of ritzy sunglasses from Mario's on my test drive the circle would have been complete.